Songs For The Deaf
Songs For The Deaf is the third album by Queens Of The Stone Age. It was their American breakout album (Rated R was their breakout in England) because of the hit single "Go With The Flow" and the monster hit single "No One Knows". "First It Giveth" was also a single. It was released August 27, 2002 on Interscope Records. This was the first Queens Of The Stone Age record to get a parental advisory sticker, despite the adult themes and small but very apparent amount of swearing in Rated R. It's Songs For The Deaf... YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR IT! Nick Oliveri was the one who pushed for making this album a loose concept album. Joshua Homme was against it, as he thought it got in the way of the songs, but Nick thought it was a great idea. In the end, Joshua finally agreed to the concept, and Songs For The Deaf became QOTSA's only "concept album", even though it's extremely loose. (Heh... extremely loose.) The idea is that you're getting in your junker car. You're going to take the drive from LA to Joshua Tree to do whatever the fuck you want to do in the desert. One problem though: The radio is only giving you bizarre radio stations, mostly spanish or religious. You stop at a station that seems interesting called KLON LA that dubs itself "LA's Infinite Repeat". A DJ named Kip Kasper says he's in the mood for a saga, introduces you to a saga that is seemingly called "Songs For The Deaf", and remarks that "you can't even hear it!". That's when we jump into "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire". The rest of the album has this feel, where you're jamming to songs on the ever-changing radio stations as you enjoy the urban scenery quickly change to barren desert. You go from popular LA stations to spanish stations to praise stations to death metal stations as you take your drive, finally ending on a radio station titled WANT, which says it's "the high desert wonder valley favorite radio station". The DJ, Dave Catching, doesn't say goodnight, as you have finally arrived at your destination under the stars, but he's just saying. How The Hell Did They Make This Shit?! That's a good question, darling. Let me first point out that this is the only album that one Mr. Dave Grohl preformed on, as he joined the band for the album and left shortly before its release. Many people say he was a guest drummer, but this is incorrect. For the short time that Dave Grohl was drumming for QOTSA, he was a full-on member of the band. Him and Joshua Homme had been friends since Josh's Kyuss days, so they thought this was a perfect time to work together, as working on Rated R didn't work out. When Dave called Josh asking if he could act as the replacement for the newly-gone drummer Gene Trautmann, Josh jumped at the chance, making Dave the official drummer for Queens Of The Stone Age. This caused Dave to have to put Foo Fighters and their new record (at the time), One By One, on hold. Dave was not only famous for Foo Fighters, but he was in a very underground and little band called Nirvana for a time, so when news spread that he was on this album, it really boosted hype. Dave wasn't the only new member to be on this album. Natasha Shneider (who also was a DJ on the album) and Alain Johannes guested on this album, later becoming full-time members for Lullabies To Paralyze. This album featured the swan songs of original QOTSA members Gene Trautmann (who drummed the drums) and Brendon McNichol (who lap steeled the lap steel), as they left after they recorded parts for this album. A few other guests were Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top fame, and who would later guest on Lullabies To Paralyze and Era Vulgaris), Jeordie White (of Marilyn Manson fame, but only as a radio DJ), Dean Ween (of Ween fame), Paz Lenchantin (of A Perfect Circle and Zwan fame), and many people with guest spots on previous (and future) albums, such as Dave Catching and Chris Goss. The album was mostly produced by Josh Homme, with Eric Valentine only helping with the first few sessions. (Adam Kasper helped produce the songs The Sky Is Fallin' and Do It Again). Josh was disenchanted with Eric's production, but it was a requirement from fucking Interscope. Mr. Homme has said that "Valentine just recorded it actually, it says production, he was only there to record the beginning of it." Tracks 1: You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire (With Hidden Pregap Track The Real Song For The Deaf) - 3:12 2: No One Knows - 4:38 3: First It Giveth - 3:18 4: A Song For The Dead - 5:52 5: The Sky Is Fallin' - 6:15 6: Six Shooter - 1:19 7: Hangin' Tree - 3:06 8: Go With The Flow - 3:09 9: Gonna Leave You - 2:50 10: Do It Again - 4:04 11: God Is In The Radio - 6:04 12: Another Love Song - 3:16 13: Song For The Deaf (Includes Reprise of Feel Good Hit Of The Summer) - 6:42 14: Mosquito Song (Hidden Track) - 5:37 Bonus Tracks 15: Everybody's Gonna Be Happy (UK and Japanese Bonus Track) - 2:35 15: Bloody Hammer (U.S. Vinyl Bonus Track) - 3:54 16: The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret (Live - UK and Japanese Bonus Track) - 3:38 Special Edition DVD Track Listing 1: Monsters In The Parasol (Live At The Troubadour) 2: No One Knows (Live At The Troubadour) 3: Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret (Live At The Troubadour) 4: Quick And To The Pointless (Live At Vintage Vinyl) 5: Queens Of The Fucking Stone Age (The Making Of Songs For The Deaf) Personnel Band Josh Homme –vocals, guitar Nick Oliveri –bass, vocals Mark Lanegan –vocals Dave Grohl –drums, percussion Additional Musicians Alain Johannes –e-bow, organ on "Another Love Song", piano on "Mosquito Song", flamenco guitar on "Mosquito Song" and "First It Giveth", theremin on "Six Shooter", lap steel guitar Natasha Shneider – e-bow, organ on "Another Love Song", piano on "Mosquito Song", theremin on "Six Shooter" Gene Trautmann – drums on "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" Dean Ween – guitar on "Six Shooter", "Gonna Leave You", and "Mosquito Song" Brendon McNichol – lap steel on "Go with the Flow" Chris Goss – guitar, keyboard and backing vocals on "The Sky is Fallin' " Paz Lenchantin – strings on "Mosquito Song" Ana Lenchantin – strings on "Mosquito Song" Molly McGuire –accordion on "Mosquito Song" John Gove –horns on "Mosquito Song" Kevin Porter – horns on "Mosquito Song" Brad Kintscher – horns on "Mosquito Song" Radio DJs Blag Dahlia C-Minus Dave Catching Casey Chaos Chris Goss Jeordie White Natasha Shneider Producers Josh Homme Eric Valentine Adam Kasper – production on "The Sky Is Fallin'" and "Do It Again" Recording Personnel Mixing – Adam Kasper at Conway Recording Studio Recording –Alain Johannes ("Everybody's Gonna Be Happy") at Sound City Recording Studio, Van Nuys, CA. Mastering – Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood CA. Guitar technician –Dan Druff Sound technician –Hutch Pre-production – Bob Brunner "Mates"